Hospital Fest Soaked By Rain

Rain had washed out two of the three evenings of the 10th Gnaden Huetten Hospital Festival as the three-day fund-raiser ended yesterday.

Dean D.W. DeLong of the festival corporation said, "We had rain twice in 10 years. This was the worse we've ever had as far as the rain.

"You know, we can't complain - we had eight good years in between. I think it was the second year we had rain. On a Friday, of course, this rain just did a number on us. The people came out and supported us. We don't have a tent to cover the fairgrounds, so we had to put up with what we got."

Commenting on Saturday's rainfall, DeLong said, "We had good crowds until the rain came; they wanted to stay. They stuck around and were riding the rides with umbrellas, but we just had too much. We lost one stand with rain damage. The canvas roof filled with water and snapped off the 2-by-4's. We didn't have any real problems other than we had to cut the last show in half - Country Cookin' only did half a show under the food tent."

Saturday's heavy rain came about 7 p.m. The crowd scurried to the former airport hangar. The rain slackened, and the crowd remained until about 8:30, when the rain got heavier.

Yesterday's rain fell about 4:20 p.m. The Mahoning Valley did not get a severe thunderstorm predicted by the National Weather Service, and most stands continued to operate until 7 p.m., when the festival was scheduled to close, DeLong said.

The Joe Stanky and His Cadets Orchestra of Nanticoke performed on a portable bandshell prior to yesterday's rainfall as spectators, who came with their own chairs, ringed the group to hear polkas, country-western music, and an occasional rock tune.

Stanky's band also moved into the hangar after taking a break, during which the Donna Albright Gymnastics Team of Lehighton performed on a portable floor set up in the bandshell area.